What are important health issues facing our community? Knowing our health challenges may help us to be proactive about prevention of health risks and to participate in health-promoting activities.

One of the biggest challenges facing our community is health information literacy and understanding. First of all, many Asian Americans are unable to communicate effectively with healthcare providers. Limited proficiency in English may cause the understanding of health information to be lacking, incomplete, or inaccurate. In addition, many people within the Asian American community do not have health insurance – Korean Americans being our most uninsured (25.5%). For many immigrants, factors like fear of deportation, language issues, and cultural barriers prevent people from seeking medical attention. Asian Americans (including Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders) have the worst rate among all racial groups for infrequent healthcare visits. Within the past year, 24.7-37.4% of the community did not visit a doctor. Women in our community are not participating in routine preventive screenings such as pap smears (32.0%) and mammograms (37.6%). Asian Americans are deficient in health information literacy and thus do not perform basic health promotion activities. As a community, we need to better understand the healthcare information, options, and processes.

Our community faces many other health challenges. Compared to other groups in the U.S., Asian/Pacific Islanders have a high prevalence of conditions and risk factors like smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and liver disease. In fact, we account for more than half of chronic hepatitis B cases and deaths in the U.S., and tuberculosis is 24 times more common in our community. Overall, Asian Americans are less likely than our white counterparts to have heart disease or die from heart disease or stroke, although the top three causes of death for Asian Americans are cancer, heart disease and stroke. We generally have lower rates of risk factors such as obesity, hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, and smoking and have lower cancer rates as well. It is important, however, to recognize important disparities that exist regarding certain types of cancer which occur more often within our community.

On one hand, we experience lower mortality rates for cancers more commonly found in the U.S. such as lung, breast, and prostate cancers. On the other hand, we experience higher mortality rates for those less common and often associated with infectious agents such as cervical, nasopharynx, liver, and stomach cancers. While Asian Americans have the lowest overall cancer mortality rate among racial groups, the population is the first racial group to attribute cancer as our leading cause of death. Our community statistically die 5 years earlier than our counterparts when death is attributed to cancer.

Notably, Korean Americans have the highest incidence and mortality rates of stomach cancer. We are 5-7 times more likely than our white counterparts to develop stomach cancer and twice as likely to die from it. Contributing risk factors are chronic infection by the helicobacter pylori bacteria and regular diet of preserved (smoked, salted, and pickled) foods rich in nitrites/nitrates–kimchi is an example. Korean Americans have the second highest lung cancer mortality rate–smoking is the strongest contributing factor. Our women have the highest liver cancer mortality rate, and our men have the highest liver and colon cancer rates of incidence compared to other Asian/Pacific Islander subgroups. With strongly contributing factors like hepatitis B and binge drinking, the incidence rate of liver cancer is 1.7-11.3 times higher in the Asian American community. It is also important to recognize Westernization has been contributing to an increase in cancers more commonly found in the U.S. and decrease in cancers more specific to Korean American and Asian American subgroups.

I hope you have learned a lot from this snapshot of health challenges facing our community. My strongest desire is for you to take the next step in addressing these issues. Seek education on health topics and healthcare processes. Get health insurance. Get medical attention when needed. Visit a healthcare provider for preventive care (recommended cancer screenings and vaccinations). Find/use/volunteer as a Korean language interpreter. Quit smoking. Limit alcohol consumption. Be more physically active. Monitor/adjust your diet. Test for relevant high risk conditions like hepatitis B and stomach (gastric) cancer. Lobby for healthcare providers, government agencies, and health insurance companies for awareness to include more culturally sensitive preventative care. Support and speak up for our community. Let’s be healthy together!

Share this:

Like this:

Posted by:Kansas City Korean Journal

Established in 2010 for the community of Koreans and Korean Americans in the Greater Kansas City area. Working to bring relatable news and events locally and internationally and giving the community a voice to reach others in the city.